Of the roughly 20,000 soldiers injured since the start of the Iraq war, more than 500 have lost a limb — many of them in roadside bombings. On Monday, a $50 million high-tech rehabilitation center opens that is designed to serve the growing number of soldiers who return from war as amputees or with severe burns. The 60,000-square-foot Center for the Intrepid will allow the Army to move its rehabilitation program out of the Brooke Army Medical Center and into a separate facility. "The Center for the Intrepid is going to let us keep advancing what we've been doing," said Maj. Stewart Campbell, the officer-in-charge of rehabilitation at Brooke. Roughly 20,000 soldiers injured? They used to call them wounded but that sounds bad so now they are just hurt or injured. And what happened to the report that there was over 30.000 wounded treated in Germany from Iraq and Afghanistan? Just what are the true numbers of wounded? Or is that another National Security Secret? ... http://www.usatoday.com

Five people died overnight in the Gaza Strip in continuing clashes between militiamen linked to rival factions. In Gaza City, Hamas gunmen attacked the headquarters of security forces closely associated with political rival Fatah. Fighting between the governing Hamas faction and Fatah has left close to 30 people dead since Thursday. It is the worst violence since Hamas came to power a year ago and has halted attempts to hold talks on forming a Palestinian national unity government. The violence escalated after a Hamas member was shot dead outside a mosque in Khan Younis, sparking clashes in the southern town for many hours between Hamas and Fatah supporters. 'Close to civil war' Gun battles continued there and in the north of the Gaza Strip until daybreak. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6308951.stm

Scientists from around the world gathered Monday in Paris to finalize a long-awaited, authoritative report on climate change, expected to give a grim warning of rising temperatures and sea levels worldwide.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is to unveil its latest assessment of the environmental threat posed by global warming on Friday.As the panel meets, the planet is the warmest it has been in thousands of years — if not more — and international concern over what to do about it is at an all-time high."At no time in the past has there been such a global appetite" for reliable information on global warming, the panel's chairman, Rajendra Pachauri of India, told the conference....http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2007-01-29-ipcc-report_x.htm?csp=34

Iraqi officials claimed Monday that at least 200 militants were killed in a fierce battle between U.S.-backed Iraqi troops and a religious cult allegedly plotting to kill pilgrims at a major Shiite Muslim religious festival, while bombings and mortar attacks targeting Shiites elsewhere killed at least 15 people. Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the Iraqi troops killed 200 terrorists, wounded 60 and captured 120 in the operation, lowering previous counts based on what he said were the most recent figures he had received. CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan reports U.S. military sources say operations around Najaf were still ongoing Monday, but the major combat involving American tanks, fighter jets and helicopter gun ships had slowed. Iraqi security forces continued frisking suspects, including several men forced to lie down on a road between a bus and a motorcycle, while others patrolled elsewhere on the battlefield. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/29/iraq/main2406300.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2406300

For many college students, being short on money and being away from home presents a dangerous temptation: credit cards. Kandace Barker, a freshman public relations major at Howard University, said shopping with credit cards made her feel as though she could still buy clothes even if she didn't have money. Barker has credit cards from New York and Company and Victoria's Secret, where she used to work. Along with the debt from the two cards, Barker faces thousands of dollars in student loans after graduating. She is currently about $9,000 in debt. "I think before I was an impulse shopper, but now I can't be. That's why I have so much debt ... especially at Victoria's Secret," said Barker. ...http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/US/01/25/cnnu.money/story.lucas.05.cnn.jpg

A court ordered public broadcaster NHK and two production companies to pay damages to a women's rights group for altering a news program on Japanese sex slavery during World War II after alleged pressure from politicians, officials said Monday. The Tokyo High Court acknowledged claims by the women's group VAWW-NET Japan that NHK altered a program about a mock international tribunal on Japanese sex slavery after protests from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was then deputy chief Cabinet secretary, and ruling party heavyweight Shoichi Nakagawa, a high court official said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol. The defendants were ordered to pay $16,420 to the women's group. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2831587